Can you believe we are already 11 days away from the end of May, and about to enter Summer? I can’t stand how time is flying right now and that our son is two months old. I remember writing recipes in October, basking in the second trimester glory, anticipating what the end result will be, and boy was it a journey (interested in my story? Here’s the link to my blog post).

This recipe was sitting in my notes on my phone for a very long time, probably since September last year, when I wrote it down while I was contemplating what to do with overripe bananas, because regardless of a pandemic or not, I always have at least two bananas that are about to RIP. Scrolling through my recipes I stumbled upon it again and as the ingredients are pretty simple, I decided that it’s about time I make it and see how it turns out – the result is AMAZING. Even my husband said they were good, and he is my biggest critic when it comes to cooking and baking.

These muffin bars are gluten free and made with Thrive Market cassava flour, calls for just one cup of sugar (both coconut and cane), two ripe bananas, and one of my favorite chocolates from Hu Kitchen. What I love about this recipe is that the bars came out so fluffy with a perfectly golden bottom, each bite has a delicate flavor of banana, and the chocolate literally came oozing out. This recipe yields approximately 12 smaller bars, but that depends on how you slice it 🙂

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 ripe bananas, smashed

2 eggs

1/4 cup cane sugar

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup whole milk (you could sub almond or oat milk too)

Vanilla extract

3/4 cup Cassava Flour

You can find my favorite cassava flour on Thrive Market –> hit the banner to the right and it’ll bring you there!

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips

(I do recommend Hu Kitchen because they are a paleo-friendly and “back to human” style eatery located in NYC but you can find their products here. I LOVE their crackers too!

Preheat your oven to 375* and pre-grease a 9×9″ brownie or baking tin. Begin by adding the wet ingredients into a bowl (eggs, bananas, vanilla, sugars, and milk). Blend to combine. Then layer in the dry ingredients – I like to pour the flour in a bit at a time so that it doesn’t fly everywhere. Mix to combine until smooth, there will be some chunks because of the banana.

Add in the 1/2 cup of chocolate (I coat the chocolate with some flour so that it does not sink to the bottom) and fold in with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Pour into the tin and bake for 20-23 minutes. Let sit and spread on some almond butter, a dollop of whipped cream, or eat them all in one sitting with a cup of coffee and Bravo Below Deck marathon… no judgment. Stay safe friends!

One of my colleagues and I were chatting about baking, and how I am not the world’s best baker, we got to talking about me developing a chocolate chip cookie recipe – because every home cook and baker deserves to have their version of a chocolate chip recipe – for her three daughters. I immediately regretted offering to do this because let’s face it, I’m way more of a cook than a baker, and even though I continue to persist and try baking regardless of my failures, I still hesitate that whatever the baked good is will be super dry, tasteless, or taste way too “healthy.” Well, today was the day, and I got rave reviews on this one. I must say, even my husband thought they were delicious too.

I’ll admit that I added a bit too much coconut oil in this recipe, and not enough flour which caused them to drastically spread on the baking tins, so to get the perfectly round shape I used a biscuit cutter (oh well, sue me). I was told by my husband, my colleague, my mother in law, and a friend who I showed the picture too that these cookies remind them of Tate’s cookies, which I happen to really enjoy. I mean, I don’t think a compliment gets better than that. These cookies are not only gluten free, but made with coconut oil, coconut sugar, grass fed butter, and Lily’s stevia sweetened chocolate chips. They’re basically breakfast cookies, you’re welcome!

Here’s what you’ll need for these bad ass cookies: (note: I adjusted the flour and coconut oil to scale back the coconut taste, and to keep the cookies a little more intact and less spread)

2 cups chocolate chips, I used Lily’s (this brand is a very “clean” brand which means the ingredients to make the chocolate chips is reliable and has no hidden chemicals or ingredients)

1 tsp vanilla extract

To start, preheat your oven to 375*. You don’t necessarily have to grease the pans, but if you feel you want to, go ahead. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together using a hand mixer the butter and sugars until creamy and fully blended. It is SUPER important to use softened butter in cookie recipes to maintain the structure of the cookie. It’s also important to be specific (as I am currently learning) with measurements: too much butter or oil will cause the cookies to spread too far (ehem, my mistake).

Add in the coconut oil, vanilla extract, and eggs, and blend on medium speed. Continue to blend until the mixture combines, approximately 3-4 minutes. For this specific cookie recipe, I poured the dry into the wet mixture a little at a time (basically separating my pours into thirds). I blended after each time I added in some dry ingredients. Once all the flour was combined I added in the chocolate chips and blended some more.

Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, scoop some of the cookie batter onto your baking sheets. You should be able to comfortably fit 12 cookie dough balls on each tray. You’ll have to reuse the sheets as you bake because this recipe yields approximately 40 cookies. OHHH YEAAAA! Bake each back for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown on the sides. Transfer to a cooling rack, let the pan sit to cool down, and repeat.

I am sincerely loving experimenting in my kitchen, with a baby in tow, and a dog sitting at my feet waiting for me to drop dollops of cookie batter on the floor. These cookies will become a staple in any household, and certainly a tradition in mine! NOMaste ~

I have a very interesting relationship with cookies. Granted, they can be super delicious, satisfying, and a perfect treat around this time of year with the holidays. On the other hand, they can be very sugary and over-powering. I tried to play with the ingredients that I had in my pantry, and referred back to my first cookie recipe for “chocolate chip health cookies,” which essentially was the base of this one, except I added collagen powder and almond butter.

The holiday season always makes me want to bake, and I just recently found my grandmother’s recipe box which is FILLED with seasonal cookies. She was an incredible baker. These cookies remind me of standing in her kitchen with my mom and aunt (who’s probably reading this… hi grantie!), rolling up cream cheese rugelach, and making scotch cookies while listening to stories and running through the list of who’s receiving cookie packages this year. I’ll have to dabble in her recipe box sooner than later.

What I love about the way these cookies turned out is that they have a very short crumble and texture to them, which is resemblant of a biscotti, so clearly they are the PERFECT accompaniment for a hot cup of coffee on a lazy sunday morning. Adding a small chunk of Alter Eco browned butter chocolate (you can find this product on Thrive Market – linked here) adds a bitter sweet (haha, I made a funny..) bite that balances out the crispness of the crust on the cookie. I also used some of my favorite dairy products from Organic Valley, which is unsalted pastured butter and eggs, two staples in my house.

Here’s the rundown of what you’ll need, and a quick breakdown of the steps:

1 stick Organic Valley unsalted butter

2 large Organic Valley eggs

1/2 cup organic Cane Sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 tbsp Barney Butter almond butter, softened at room temperature

2 cups Thrive Market Non-GMO Cassava Flour

2 tbsp collagen powder – I use Vital Proteins

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 bar Alter Eco Browned Butter chocolate, broken into small chunks.

Preheat the oven to 375*. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, collagen powder). In a separate bowl, combine the butter with both brown sugar and cane sugar until creamy (may take a few minutes – around 4-5m). Add in eggs and almond butter. Whisk until combined.

Pour the wet batter into the dry ingredients and mix (whether with a spatula, whisk, or electric hand mixer) until fully combined and it forms a sticky batter. Roll into small cookie balls and place onto a pre-greased sheet pan. Batter should yield approximately 20 cookies. Place a small chunk in the center of the cookie and press down lightly. Bake for 20 minutes and let sit to cool, don’t worry if the cookies are a little soft, they will firm up as they cool.

These are a perfect addition to breakfast, a dessert for lunch, or simply by its own. NOMaste 🙂

I’ve always had an irrational fear of nuts. I am allergic to cashews and pistachios (slightly to peanut) but all others I can eat. Why was I so nervous to eat them you ask? Not sure, again hence the word “irrational.” In my quest to find an alternative nut butter, I decided to try and swap peanut butter for almond butter with not-so-good results… until I found Justin’s. Justin’s almond butter has such a beautiful consistency and texture, along with a really powerful taste. This makes for a perfect snack. For the last few month’s I thought about ways to incorporate almond butter into a sweet snack or dessert without making brownies or using flours. During research on high-fat, low-carb desserts, I came across the concept of a “fat bomb.”

What exactly is a “fat bomb?” It’s a dessert made predominately out of healthy fats. Healthy fats are really integral for proper brain and digestive functioning, and I think as a society we’ve become so dependent on protein with almost always forgetting to incorporate fats into our meals. Well, think again sister! This fat bomb is made from almond butter, brain octane oil (the highest form of coconut oil which will increase energy and brain performance), avocado oil, raw cacao and dark chocolate chips, and crushed walnuts on the outside. For more of a kick, I added half a scoop of collagen powder. Collagen supports bone health as well as hair, skin, and nail growth. For this recipe, I tampered around with the texture and added a bit of oil here, a dash of sea salt there, until I found a perfect harmony between the ingredients.

I started by crushing the walnuts as finely as possible (if you need to re-crush them by all means do so). I laid them on a plate and put them aside for when I rolled the fat bomb into them. For the mixture I used two bowls: one for the oils and maple syrup, the other for the almond butter and chocolate chips. Scoop one cup of almond butter (be generous here) into a bowl and poured in the chocolate chips. I hand mixed these two ingredients around, then added in the brain octane and maple syrup and mixed again. Afterwards, I poured in one tbsp of avocado oil to add more creaminess to the mixture as well as the cacao powder and collagen. Last, pinch of sea salt and combined all ingredients until it formed a “flour-like” consistency.

I sprayed my hands with cooking spray (I use Trader Joe’s coconut spray) to form the balls. I rolled each ball into the crushed walnuts and placed in a bowl, then onto a pre-greased tray.

After freezing them for a half hour, they came out nice a firm and were incredible! The bite of the chocolate chip alongside the crunch of the walnut really go hand in hand. Let’s not forget the taste of the almond butter with the chocolate, #winning. I can’t wait to experiment with more fat bomb concoctions: possibly some mint? Enjoy!

Instructions

In a small bowl, add brain octane and maple syrup. Set aside. Pour walnuts into a ziplock bag; using the bottom of a can or a meat-cleaver, crush walnuts until desired consistency and size.

In a medium bowl, scoop out the almond butter and add to bowl with chocolate chips. Mix by hand and add in avocado oil. Hand mix again and add in octane/syrup blend, cacao, collagen, sea salt. Continue to mix until all ingredients combine and form a "flour" consistency.

Spray hands with cooking spray and form medium to small-sized balls, roll them into the crushed walnuts, and place on a tray or in a bowl (tray needs to be pre-greased). Place in freezer for 30-45 minutes. Serve immediately.

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